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Synonyms

carcinoma

American  
[kahr-suh-noh-muh] / ˌkɑr səˈnoʊ mə /

noun

Pathology.

plural

carcinomas, carcinomata

  1. a malignant and invasive epithelial tumor that spreads by metastasis and often recurs after excision; cancer.

carcinoma British  
/ ˌkɑːsɪˈnəʊmə /

noun

  1. any malignant tumour derived from epithelial tissue

  2. another name for cancer

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
carcinoma Scientific  
/ kär′sə-nō′mə /

plural

carcinomas

  1. Any of various cancerous tumors that are derived from epithelial tissue of the skin, blood vessels, or other organs and that tend to metastasize to other parts of the body.

  2. See also basal cell carcinoma squamous cell carcinoma

carcinoma Cultural  

  1. A malignant tumor in the tissues that make up the skin, glands, mucous membranes, and lining of organs.

Other Word Forms

  • carcinomatoid adjective
  • carcinomatous adjective

Etymology

Origin of carcinoma

1715–25; < Latin: ulcer, tumor < Greek karkínōma; carcino-, -oma

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The study, titled 'Caspase- 2 deficiency drives pathogenic liver polyploidy and increases age- associated hepatocellular carcinoma in mice', was published in Science Advances.

From Science Daily • Mar. 23, 2026

A study published last year in the journal Nature, for example, found that a personalized vaccine showed promise in forestalling recurrence of clear cell renal cell carcinoma, an aggressive form of kidney cancer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

In May 2025, Arnold announced that he was ill, and had received a diagnosis of stage 4 clear cell renal carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer, which had metastasised into his lung.

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026

That led to a biopsy, which in April revealed that Hamilton had Stage 2 triple-positive invasive lobular carcinoma.

From Slate • Feb. 4, 2026

So they treated the invasive type aggressively but generally didn’t worry about carcinoma in situ because they thought it couldn’t spread.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.